Buttons
by TamSibling
Summary: SimonKaylee. Kaylee finds some of Simon's shirts and wonders why he doesn't wear them anymore.


Kaylee stretched languorously, her body warm and light despite her lack of clothes or covers. With her eyes still shut, she moaned softly, her senses still tingling as she remembered her night, and early morning, with Simon.

With her arms reaching over her head, Kaylee let out a small squeal as she felt her muscles stretch themselves and then leisurely dropped them back to her sides, running them over her stomach. She didn't want to get up; in fact, Kaylee would have been perfectly content to lay in bed all day, naked as the day she was born, and wait for Simon's return.

Another contented sigh escaped her lips, a simultaneous shiver of delight racing down her spine as she thought of her unbelievably swai boyfriend, and the outrageously un-proper things they had done the night before. Giggling at the thought, Kaylee found it easier to open her eyes and sit up, ready to face the day, as she knew it would mean getting to see her bao bei sooner.

Unashamed of her own nakedness, Kaylee rose slowly, stretching again, and wandered towards the small dresser she and Simon had been sharing for going on three months now. Neither of them had discussed officially moving his or her bunk, but Kaylee often found herself waking up next to him in the passenger dorms and she didn't mind. With the shoji screen, and the lighter colored walls, the room was far more cheery than her bunk, despite all the work she'd done to counteract the cold metal.

Pulling open one drawer, Kaylee pawed around, finding a fresh pair of underwear, before reaching to the bottom drawer and rifling through for a clean shirt. As she continued to search, the small space quite a jumble, Kaylee knelt beside the dresser and pulled out a handful of Simon's shirts. Shirts she had not seen for weeks, if memory served, all neatly folded.

Setting them aside in a pile and paying no mind, Kaylee found the brightly patterned tank top she'd been seeking and rose, shrugging into her robe and snagging a pair of coveralls off the floor on her way to the washroom.

As she let the hot stream of water beat down on her skin, she found herself thinking back to those shirts of Simon's. He didn't have a lot of clothes, none of them did, but those shirts had been some of his finest, the ones he'd worn in his first few months on board. Lately, he'd opted for tunics and the like, ones more brightly colored and Kaylee did not mind the change. She especially liked the blue one as it made his pretty eyes stand out more than they already did.

Dressing fast as the coolness of the shower room bit at her skin, Kaylee wandered back towards his room, stopping along the way to greet him in the infirmary. She stood in the entryway for a minute or so, appreciatively eyeing his backside as he worked, making notes in a chart. With his back to her, he couldn't see the mischievous grin that played across her face as her mind flashed a memory of some very special times they had spent in the room.

On tiptoe, Kaylee approached him, running her hands up from his waist to the front of his chest and pulling him to her. He hissed softly in surprise at her touch, but quickly welcomed it, leaning against her for only a moment, before whirling to face her.

"Good morning," he murmured against her mouth, kissing her with those soft, gentle lips.

"Mornin'," she replied before pulling him tighter to her and crushing her mouth to his. Her warm shower had done nothing to cool her desire and Kaylee found herself wishing they both could go back to bed.

Making no move to pull away, Simon simply ran sure hands down her back, resting them against her hips and holding her firmly to him. With their tongues waging war, Kaylee reached for the flap of his tunic, pulling at the fabric a bit too forcibly in her eagerness to feel Simon's warm skin under her hands. Breaking contact, Simon stepped back for a second, and told her breathlessly, "Easy, Kay. I don't have that many shirts left."

Frowning at his choice of words, Kaylee regarded him for a moment even as he again moved to kiss her. With her initial passion cooled, Kaylee returned the kiss, but her mind was elsewhere. Suddenly the stack of shirts she'd found that morning could be explained. Feeling a blush creeping up her neck, Kaylee pecked Simon quickly on the cheek, ignoring his look of pure befuddlement, and turned to go.

"Kaylee? Are you all right?" he asked worriedly, reaching for her even as she headed for the door.

Nodding once, she flashed him one of her supernova smiles, the one that always melted his heart, and told him, "Shiny. I jus' thought o' somethin' I gotta do. I'll see ya at lunch, 'kay?"

Simon nodded wordlessly and watched her go, doing his best not to demand more information. After a few moments of silent reflection, in which Simon realized he still had no idea what had distracted her, he returned to his work, hoping an answer would be forthcoming.

Simon trudged up the stairs to the galley more than ready for something to eat. He'd barely had breakfast, but it wasn't his stomach that was demanding his attention; it was his curiosity.

Quickly scanning the room, he found no Kaylee before him and frowned. It was later than normal for lunch and he'd expected her to be here.

Heading out unnoticed by the other crew who had gathered for the afternoon meal, Simon headed for the engine room, concern beginning to creep in. As he reached the doorway, he stopped suddenly, surprised when he heard Kaylee whisper ferociously, "Ow! Dang it! Why's this so hard?"

Smiling slightly at her absolutely adorable and peeved tone, Simon rounded the corner and found his bao bei sitting in her hammock, a pile of his shirts on her lap. Glancing up to him hurriedly, she blushed even as she continued to suck on the finger in her mouth. "Hey sweetie," she mumbled around the digit, pulling it out after a second to inspect it. Apparently satisfied, she picked up the white dress shirt she'd been working on, again positioning the needle, and poking it through the cotton.

Scratching the back of his head, Simon studied her for a moment more before asking, "Ah, Kaylee?" As she lifted her eyes to meet his gaze, he asked, "What are you doing?"

Her cheeks reddening again, Kaylee gestured to the shirts that surrounded her and said sheepishly, "I found these this morning an' realized that it's my fault you can't wear 'em no more." Shrugging once, she added, "I thought I'd try and sew the buttons back on."

Suppressing a chuckle, Simon sat gingerly beside her, lifting one of the shirts from her lap. He remembered with uncanny clarity the last time he'd worn this particular garment – it had been one full month after Miranda. The crew had been given a day of leave and Simon and Kaylee had wanted to make the most of it. They had attempted to go on an actual date, but had never made it farther than the cargo bay, before their desire for one another won out. And, as seemed to be the norm, Kaylee had anxiously ripped Simon's shirt, buttons flying in all directions.

He didn't care, of course; it was actually fairly sexy when Kaylee could not wait to undress him. But it had depleted his wardrobe.

Meeting her green-eyed gaze, Simon took her hand in his, careful of the needle and squeezed gently. As she winced at the contact, he more closely examined her fingers and caught sight of the tiny pinpricks there. "How long have you been at this?" he asked concernedly, checking her other hand as he waited for an answer.

"Most o' the mornin'," Kaylee reported. She felt even more foolish now; not only had she ruined his good shirts in the first place, but she learned pretty quickly that she was also ill-equipped to fix them. "My mama taught me how to sew buttons back on, mend holes an' the like, but apparently, it din't really take."

Looking back to her beautiful face and the small smile that graced her lips, Simon leaned forward without hesitation and kissed her. As he sat back from her once again, he told her, "Kaylee, I love you, but you don't have to do this. It's all right."

Shaking her head stubbornly, she told him, "No, it ain't. I've ruined four of your really nice shirts. It ain't like we're all made o' money."

With a quick duck of his head, Simon tried to hide his embarrassment at her statement. The truth was, in his old life, Simon had very nearly been made of money, and the loss of four shirts from his closet wouldn't have made a dent.

"That may be true," he told her, quickly masking his discomfort. "But I don't want you injuring yourself in the process." Leaning close, he rested his forehead to hers and whispered conspiratorially, "The captain would blow me out of the airlock if he knew I was responsible for hurting your hands."

She giggled and Simon felt his heart soar. It was amazing how she could buoy his spirits and ease his mind just with her sheer presence.

Kaylee locked her eyes on his, their ocean blue color causing her heart to beat rapidly in her chest. She wasn't exactly sure how she'd gotten so lucky or why a man like Simon would love her. But she did know that she would spend the rest of her life loving him, if he wanted her to.

Brushing a quick kiss to his mouth, she straightened back up and diligently set back to work. "I'm gonna keep tryin' for a bit," she told him determinedly, grinning wide as she completed a stitch without a pinprick. "Maybe I can at least fix one of 'em."

Simon watched her work in silence for a moment, his hand absentmindedly running over the fabric. Studying the loose threads and frayed edges, he asked, "Do you even have enough buttons?" As Kaylee paused to look at him, he smiled coyly and added, "As I recall, we didn't exactly make an effort to hunt them down."

Giggling again, Kaylee simply shrugged. Simon simply kissed her and soon the shirts and buttons were the least of their concern.

On quiet feet, River padded through the silent ship. It was nighttime now and she knew she could affix her latest piece of art without anyone noticing. Doing her best not to giggle as she approached the door to what was quickly becoming her brother and Kaylee's shared bunk, River pressed the thin piece of metal with its four word phrase to the wall next to the screen.

Stepping back for a moment to admire her work, River again grinned. It was only right, after all, that Simon and his girlfriend have a proper sign to announce their joint space. So, with meticulous detail, River had set about to do just that, spelling out 'Simon & Kaylee's Bunk' – in buttons.


End file.
